Archive for January, 2012

Website Usability and Accessibility for SEO – Top 10 Tips

Sunday, January 22nd, 2012

Search engine optimization (SEO), website accessibility and usability go hand in hand. Accessibility refers to making a website approachable for a wider range of users including those with special needs. Whereas, website usability refers to making a website easy to browse for an improved User Experience (UX) and, hence, to increase engagement and conversion. A website which is easily accessible and relevant for users or searchers is also going to be more accessible and relevant for search engines as well and, therefore, is good from an SEO perspective.

Here are top 10 tips to improve the accessibility and usability of websites which affect SEO.

  1. Purpose, Keywords Selection and Contents: Make the purpose of the website clear; carefully select the keywords and build quality contents around those keywords in order to deliver a consistent message.
  2. Load Time:  Web pages should be able to load quickly. It becomes even more important with the increasing use of mobile devices for browsing purposes.
  3. Enough Text: Though there is no limit of minimum and maximum text on the page. But, every page should have at least couple of paragraphs of unique quality content.
  4. Appropriate Front to Background Color Contrast: The same font and background colour can create problems for SEO and users (especially for those with special needs).
  5. Limit the use of Nested Tables, Flash and Javascript: These types of technology/ methods can create problems in terms of accessibility of the website for users and search engines. If excessive use of these technologies is a ‘must’, also offer a text-only version of the website.
  6. Navigation: Use clear and consistent Navigation; Descriptive and User Friendly URLs; Suitable internal linking; Avoid unnecessary deep pages.
  7. Meta Data and Image Alt Tags: Intelligently use Meta description  and other metadata necessary for smooth and meaningful indexing of the website; Image alt tags are important from optimization as well as user experience purpose.
  8. Search, Headings and Keyboard Short-cuts: ‘Search’ option should be given for the website and be prominently displayed. Headings: Headings and sub-headings should be clear and descriptive for visually impaired persons (and for search engines). Appropriate keyboard-friendly shortcuts should be given.
  9. Error Handling: Both users and search engines simply hate page not found error message.  A sitemap or any other appropriate page (e.g. search page) can be shown in case this error occurs.
  10. Fewer Steps: Avoid trying to get detailed user data by offering detailed sign-up forms.

These are just ten tips, there can be many more usability and accessibility issues. A true SEO Specialist takes all accessibility and usability issues into account when recommending ‘on-page’ changes. In other words, he helps to make the site equally valuable not only for search engines but for users, as well.

See also: Top 10 Benefits of SEO for Businesses ;  Top 10 Benefits of Social Media for Business ; SEO and Social Media Marketing Integration ;  SEO Specialist’s Website ; Is SEO Dead?

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Will SEO be Dead in 2012? Or, Is SEO Already Dead?

Thursday, January 5th, 2012

‘SEO is Dead’ or ‘SEO will be dead soon’ these are the most common statements I have been hearing since first adopting SEO as a hobby and later on as a profession. I hear these phrases at a greater frequency at the start of a new year – not to mention many times within the year as well.

Is SEO really dead? Well it’s not and it will never be as long as there is a need to search. It is almost impossible to find results without the help of an ‘engine’ from the huge amount of information available online.

It is important to understand what really SEO is, otherwise SEO will be dead after every major change in the online world. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is not Google optimization – though at the moment it is very much like this. Basically SEO is about optimizing your digital assets for any search engine. Therefore, even if Google is not the number one choice in the long run, there still will be search engines which consumers will have to use in order to dive through the huge amount of information available. SEO will only be dead, if one dares manually find all the sites!

Actually, the fact is that Google has matured so much over the last 15 years or so that it will not be easy to replace it totally. I can’t see Google going away for at least one more decade, if not longer. It is just unmatchable in speed, accuracy and relevancy when it comes to returning search results. It has huge database of web pages, secure data centers, very user friendly interface, support for variety of languages and geographical areas and is innovating all the time.  I feel pity for the people who try to compare Siri of iPhone with Google. Siri is just in the initial stages and is good in doing simple routine jobs. Not only just Siri, any tool which beats Google will have to go a long way.

Technology and online world is changing and every related field is evolving quite rapidly and SEO is no exception. It will evolve too – as it has evolved over the last fifteen years or so. To stay on top of technology and be successful in SEO world, one should take every change as opportunity. Obviously there are few basic elements which are and will always remain among the important elements of SEO such as quality and shareable contents, user-friendly web interface and understanding what people might type in to find you.

SEO is not dead. SEO has huge benefits for the businesses and is best ever pull marketing method. There are many skilful SEO specialists out there who can do magic with their knowledge and experience to bring huge ROI for the business. The only thing is to select the right knowledgeable SEO, otherwise SEO will very likely be dead for you!

See also: Top 10 Benefits of SEO for Businesses ;  Top 10 Benefits of Social Media for Business ; SEO and Social Media Marketing Integration ;  SEO Specialist’s Website

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Using Social Media for Business Success and Development – Social CRM

Sunday, January 1st, 2012

In a recent research done by myself in which some top social media experts participated from across the globe, it was found out that customer experience ( CX ) was the most important element of using social media for business purposes. Customers are in the heart of any successful social media campaign and, thus, need special attention and extra care. A lot has been written about customer engagement, however businesses now have to think further and concentrate on improving customer experience. Obviously customer engagement is important by itself, but it is not enough to get long lasting results and getting loyalty in social business era.

Social media is a double-edged sword and can be a blessing or a curse depending upon the consumer experience. If companies (or any authority) ignore customer experience, they will have to suffer as we already have witnessed it throughout this year (2011) in many countries. Poorly-run companies or businesses have real threats from Social media front so they need to lift their business standards. It is now impossible to hide away poor quality and have unhappy customers and uncompetitive prices.  Customer service to delight customers is the real marketing in social media age.

Technology is there to be used but it is important to change the mindset as well.  Actually, technology is useless as long as companies are not willing to change their mindset.  Now customers are more powerful than ever before and they have more ways to get and share information and make more accurate decision. They have smart phones with cameras to create huge amount of uncensored user generated contents and social media to share all that stuff.  They no longer listen to marketing tones and monologue rather than want companies to collaborate with them. So the companies which ignore them will have to pay the penalty and will likely to face reputational issues. Companies can get much out of social media and know about their customers and their needs by active listening, efficient monitoring and responding proactively.

One thing which companies need to understand is that social media is a not a quick fix. Simply joining these channels cannot solve problems at all.  Once executed rightly, social media campaigns result into happy loyal customers and improved business designs.

Social Media, Customer Experience and SEO

It is important to keep customers happy from SEO prospective as well, because satisfied customers are likely to share positive experiences with peers. Positive contents regarding brands increase visibility of the companies over search engines and hence help with brand awareness, reputation management and positive words of mouth.  Search engines have already started giving weight to number and sentiment of reviews.  On-site user experience has always been a core element of SEO!

See also: Top 10 Benefits of Social Media for Business ; SEO and Social Media Marketing Integration ; Should Facebook Have a Dislike Button? ; Using Social Media for CRM ; SEO Specialist’s Website

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